Ample China Dongxiao Sample Library

Ample Sound’s latest is in the flute family, and the demo sounds gorgeous

Ample China Dongxiao sounds wonderful, probably because of some interesting innovations. One of them is that they extracted the breath sound from this Chinese woodwind instrument, and made it variable.

Hence the smooth, round sound you hear in the demos. (Some physical modeling synths have been able to do that all along, but it’s unusual for a sample library.)

The instrument is a Deep Blue Sea series G key Dongxiao (Linqiu Zhong Masterbuilt), and the artist is Xiaokui Ding (China National Traditional Orchestra).

Ample China Dongxiao has a proprietary virtual modulation system, and a variety of articulations selected by keyswitches (including recorded vibrato, trills, grace notes, and some licks). The samples are 8 seconds long – they can also be looped for a monster lung effect – and there are five velocity layers.

This 4.8GB library works in Ample Sound’s Woodwind Sample Engine, which comes in all the standard plug-in formats plus a standalone version. It includes five mic positions, head and body articulations, and it has four types of custom IR Reverb programs.

Other effects include 8-band EQ, a compressor, and 6-tap echo, all with a real-time visual interface.

Price: $109 (until 8/26/21)

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